no one can live life in loneliness, only stars in the sky far away... [WELCOME everyone from everywhere, with intention or by accident - THIS BLOG IS BEST VIEWED IN WEB VERSION FORMAT as its how I envision it to be with the text and photos but still any layout format will work just fine.]

This is the setlist for Bon Jovi - Birmingham Villa Park 9th June 2013...27 mostly stupendous songs that I had always like...they play near to 3 hours mark.

1. thats what the water made me2. you give love a bad name3. born to be my baby4. raised your hands 5. lost highway6. runaway7. its my life8. because we can9. what about now10. we got it going on11. keep the faith12. amen13. bed of roses14. captain crash and the beauty queen from mars15. we werent born to follow16. who says you cant go home17. rocking all over the world18. i'll sleep when i'm dead19. bad medicine/old time rock n roll/bad medicineencore 120. dry county21. wanted dead or alive22. in these arms23. happy now24. have a nice day25. livin on a prayerencore 226. always27. blood on blood

- What is the attraction of Bon Jovi after all these years? about 30 years now this band is around?- When I reach Villa Park, thousands and thousands, easily 35,000? or much much more? The pitch standing tickets are definitely full house, and the stands, are packed as well.- People of all ages, of all walks of life I believe, the very young to the very old, all dressed differently, I see a guy wearing a fanclub tshirt of Iron Maiden haha.- When Bon Jovi starts the whole place just erupt.- I guess I am standing at the right place with the right people, at the start one guy was taking out his handphone to record and he was asked by one of the people around him to put it away.Seems like JUST ENJOY THE BLOODY SHOW!!! fuckcare all the handphones and video recordings..and dont obstruct people who WANTS TO SEE THE SHOW ON STAGE WITH THEIR EYES.- Everyone was like dancing and moving and singing along on the spot haha.- The stage was like from one corner flag of Villa Park to the other corner flag...Its huge. The car stage really works to show sort of like travels, and with all the effects and lights and colour, its a sight to behold.- Phil X seems I hear Jon Bon Jovi call him sounds like "felix" was the Ritchie Sambora's replacement. He starts his lead guitars and solos from 3rd song onwards. He is very alive onstage.- The live 2nd guitarist that Bon Jovi always use is as usual low-profile but he solos on 1st two songs, and some other songs.- Tico Torres and Dave Bryan is there and quite often appears on the jumbo screens.
- I dont how to describe song after song of wonderfulness and happiness haha.
Raise Your Hands! ooooooohhhh myyyyy.....
- Ok some albums of Bon Jovi I dont really like, but nobodys perfect, and even one or two songs I dont care much for, the people around me were singing word by word haha.
- Keep The Faith ending has Dave Bryan and the two guitarists soloing in and out of each other.
- Bad Medicine was like...ok....15 minutes? haha.. and includes " I am not handsome like Justin Bieber (cue HAHAHAAHHAAHAHA!!!), I cannot dance like Justin Timberlake ( cue BOOOO!!!!!) haha.
- Amen. Most most unexpected song of the night, the two guitarists on accoustic.- Encore starts with Dry County. Most emotional, roller coaster and deep song. Its a wonder November Rain was such a huge hit on the radio and all over the world, unfortunately Dry County, a similar long song aint, but nevermind, I think most Bon Jovi fans rated this song highly, and around me even ladies are mouthing this song " Now the moneys gone, all the jobs are gone". I guess November Rain is a love song,while Dry County is a depressing song about life, and death and all the hardship in between.- Livin On A Prayer we got the two versions, the first portion of the accoustic version and then the full original version, ooo I thought the ending chorus stops after two rounds, but Jon was urging the crowd to keep on singing so we got four rounds till band stops playing. I dont mind if it goes to 10, cause I like it haha.- Jon was very kind, so Bon Jovi plays two more songs...Always is like a monster hit? I know this song is popular but I didnt know its like 'all goes crazy for the song' popular.- Yaaaa!!! They play Blood On Blood. Jon should have change the lyrics that night to " and me, I'm just the singer in the world's favourite rock n roll band" haha.- ok ok, I dont get to see them play Someday I'll Be Saturday Night haha. and of course Good Guys DOnt Always Wear White, the rest of the songs from Slippery When Wet, New Jersey, no Superman Tonight, NO SAVE THE WORLD??!! haha...no Undivided, no so many songs....
ok ok, I know its impossible but 27 songs and most of them are BLOCKBUSTER SONGS (AT LEAST TO ME)....3 hours...
Astounding.
- ok the merchandise stands do have some nice tour tshirts, but I was saving money for Iron Maiden "dated ones" ones, so I cannot buy even one haha. But I did bought the tour program. Maybe I'll take photos of it and paste it in this blog next time.

Now some photos...

Wait I will write and put up photos of Birmingham city, the short time that I am there....
I think I am there for less than 24 hours, But I managed to jalan-jalan a bit...
and the delicious food... I ate Beryani there haha.

Iron Maiden(of course), Black Sabbath, AC/DC, Ritchie Blackmore's RAINBOW, Megadeth, Nightwish etc etc in an 11 DAYS Madness backpacking, little sleep, alone thru England & Germany thousands of km by Planes/Trains/Buses and lots of walking thru muddy watery floods and rain. I will also add additional details on how to get to some of these rocking places. Reports and photos to be updated whenever I got the chance. Click some of the event tshirts above to get direct to these related "Rock Europe 2016" postings..

SOME IRON MAIDEN SHOWS ARE FOR ME TO GO ""MENTAL"", WHILE SOME OTHER shows are for me to be like a mouse & to try to take photos and be more focus on each member of the band, analyse their performance as a fan and the show itself. This is a Maiden show that I did not went "MENTAL. LOL!!. So lots of pretty photos that I like and doesnt matter if no one else like it. As usual click Steve Harris above

How To Travel alone To Hellfest, Clisson Nantes France and all the good and bad that comes with it?

Click the above backprint of the tshirt to see how I travel alone to Hellfest without knowing any French using public transportation, choosing to sleep in Nantes nightly, and all the many mistakes that I made, which hurts my budget LOL!!!

Click the Maiden England poster above for the still INCOMPLETE report of my backpacking travels to Donington Park Download Festival, Birmingham, London, and Frankfurt to see some really awesome bands in some awesome places with awesome crowds

I try to photograph Maiden in the madhouse environment of their first night in Frankfurt 2013

As the previous tour, the photos I took may not be nice to other peoples eyes, but I love every each of these results, click Steve Harris above for their 2013 in action photos. Sadly not as many as the 200 photos I took of them in action across Australia in 2011.

Scream For Me Donington!!

How did I travel to Donington Park daily by staying at Derby instead of camping.

Click above photo of Iron Maiden headlining on the second day for 2013 festival. Donington Download Festival Logistics is amazing for me, as the crowd can hit near 100,000

Would be nice if Maiden plays South East Asia for this very special Maiden England tour but ....

11 June 2013 Frankfurt Germany

12 June 2013 Frankfurt Germany

15 June 2013 Donington Park UK

xx xx 2013 Malaysia

xx xx 2013 Singapore

It begins with a dream... I dont think I can ever repeat this adventure again

I am so happy with each photo because I have always wondered how its like to capture photos of Maiden on stage and I did it although I am using a cheap, easy to smuggle in, easy to hide from security, small point and shoot camera and trying to stand still in a sea of madness.

its " www.deafeningforever.blogspot.com ". Last updated - 11 April 2011. Or go thru the *labels sections in this same column to check out my previous visits to exhibitions, museums, historical places and zoos. I love these stuffs.

* labels linked to topics I blog before or you can find similar labels at bottom of each blog post.

Personalised Trooper Eddie

Derek Riggs was kind enough to accede to my humble request for a drawing of my favourite Eddie when I got the Hardcover version (now sold out) of his book..

Youtube Channel

Bootlegs of some live shows attended, scenes of live shows and Festivals, some frolicking animals at the zoo, travelling & other things...

The latest by me on some topics.

cds, dvds, concerts, merchandise, books, travelling, animals, zoos, nature,photography, leisure, food and everything else is ALL MIXED UP in this blog, these are some of my latest opinions on some of the topics, the rest YOU CAN go thru the labels section above.

Where Eagles Dare ( my other websites )

A Most Memorable Evening

It took me 25 years as a Maiden fan (83-08) to finally see them live with my better half by my side. Pathetic and embarassing as a loyal fan but I cant afford it before being in the wrong bloody continent. One of the great lessons in life, when you really want something, you have to put in much effort. It may look to be beyond your ability and reach, but sometimes dreams can come true. Mine did.

stranger in a strange land

ghost of the navigator

~ Mentally Yours ~

"I never went to college
I dont have a degree
Lets say I went to nite school
I learned all I know on the streets
I wasnt born a rich man
I aint got no pedigree
The sweat on this old collar
Thats my Ph.D."
In life, there are things that most people take for granted, but not for me but everyone has their stories.
My earthly pleasures are many but two more evil ones and the milestones are -
1979 - became a lifelong Arsenal fan because its the choice of either supporting the Gunners or The Red Devils and "as a young boy chasing dragons", devils are bad and the cannon looks pretty. Anyway, you can change your life, but you cant change your team. 1983 - listened to Iron Maiden's Piece Of Mind tape and the rest is a glorious history..
2008 - Pathetic and embarassing but thats the truth, I only got to see Maiden live in Perth for the first time in my life with my better half by my side. It means a lot to me. Fast forward to 2011, they played Singapore for their long suffering fans in South East Asia. I also managed to backpack to Australia to catch them again in a few places.
So not bad really, for a fan born in the ass of the world as far as being a Maiden fan is concerned.

Let me take you far away, You'd like a holiday..

Once in a blue moon and if we can save up a bit, we take the chance to get away out of Malaysia and Singapore and go to another place, and these are our adventures. Click Krabi's bamboo island beach above or check on the *labels section for the specific places. AND NOPE THAT IS NOT ME ABOVE LOL!!! I just like this photo...